Day 104: Sam and Lauren Arrive in Christchurch!

Monday, March 13

I woke around 7 am. My roommates had places to be and once I was up I couldn't go back to sleep. I wasn't quite ready to make breakfast yet, so I made some toast and blogged before making a bigger breakfast with eggs and avocado.

As I was sitting in the common area, I noticed two people I had noticed yesterday. They had been watching movies and one had a fancy ultralight backpack. Today I heard one of them talk about a bounce box, so I asked him if he was hiking the TA. If I was wrong, I'd probably never see them again.

It turns out they had just finished. Doug was from New Hampshire and the girl he had been hiking with was from the U.K. They were nice and it's always encouraging to hear from people who have finished. I told them the section I planned to skip and they assured me I wasn't missing too much. I think Sam, Lauren and I will have a lot more fun spending half our time in Abel Tasman National Park. Only time will tell!

After a bit I heard from Sam and Lauren. They were in the country! The airlines had left Lauren's bag in L.A., but they'd be at the hostel as planned.

Now that is was Monday, I walked to the post office to got through my bounce box. I needed the maps for Abel Tasman and the next TA section and to refill my toiletries and first aid kit. My feet got destroyed my first week, so I wanted to make sure I had extra of everything incase Sam and Lauren's feet got blisters. But they have been skiing in Alaska and won't be starting on a beach, so hopefully they won't get bad blisters.

When I got back to the hostel I figured out how many Hut tickets they would need for the section of the TA and kept blogging. It was another rainy day, so I didn't really want to be outside.

I got a text from Lauren and Sam. They were nearly at the hostel. I was so excited I went outside without shoes or a raincoat. Not wearing shoes isn't completely crazy in New Zealand so I didn't notice any funny looks. I also could have just been preoccupied looking for Sam and Lauren to notice.

Then they were there. Pulling up in a blue station wagon they had rented from the airport. After giving them hugs, they checked in and we took their bags up to the room. It was a triple so we didn't need to worry about roommates.

Lauren and Sam had brought me instant coffee packets. Four different Starbucks flavors! I was really excited about them because I'd only been able to find containers of instant coffee or instant cappuccino and latte mixes in New Zealand. I wasn't a huge fan of the cappuccinos (unlike Marjolein) and a tub of the instant coffee power wasn't worth buying for a day or two in town.

We were hungry for lunch so we went to a container area with shops and food-cart-like options. I have a feeling using the shipping containers was a cheap, quick and easy solution for businesses after the earthquake in Christchurch.

On our way back to the hostel we stopped at the i-Site to get Hut passes so we wouldn't be crunched for time on our way back through town in a few days. Once we were back at the hostel, Sam and Lauren took a nap and I wrote a blog post or two.

After that we got food and fuel at Pak 'n Save. Since we had the rental car to store stuff in, we got food and snacks for two weeks. Then we ate dinner at Pegasus, a great Pub and Restaurant a short walk from the hostel. Their fish and chips were probably my favorite of the entire hike - except for maybe the fish I got in Ahipara because the yummy food distracted me from my hurt feet.

Dinner was great! There was a live band and two of my best friends to talk to. It was so nice to see Sam and Lauren. It was hard to believe they were really there.

After dinner we walked back to the hostel and packed our food. Lauren and Sam had bought some dehydrated potatoes and onions and mixes. They were getting much more creative with their dinner than my unoriginal ramen, dehydrated veggies and tuna.

Once packing was done, it was time for bed. There wasn't a huge hurry to get to bed because we couldn't leave before the flight with Lauren's bag got in, but we were all pretty tired. It was past my hiker bedtime and Sam and Lauren were probably jet lagged.

Another drizzly day. That's the Art Centre across from the hostel.  

The Container Shopping Center

Sam and Lauren! And dinner at Pegasus.